한국사회법학회

There is an assertion that the scope for mediation of labor disputes must be expanded as a way to revitalize the labor dispute mediation system and improve labor-management autonomy. In principle, rights disputes have legal basis to be excluded from collective bargaining or mediation under the current law, but collective disputes of labor-management relations have no legal basis. Based on the dominance theory, it may be legally reasonable for the prime contractor to be expanded to employers as the subject of unfair labor practices against the subcontracted workers. However, expanding, on the basis of this, to employers as parties to collective bargaining needs to be cautious in consideration of the possibility of concluding labor contracts for subcontracted workers. There is also a concern that laws such as the dominance theory could be operated in excessively open or flexible ways. Expanding the subjects for mediation might activate the labor committee's mediation system leading to the reduction of labor-management conflict costs and the improvement of collective labor-management autonomy. However, it should be noted that in a system in which the other party must participate in mediation when one party applies for mediation, participation as a party to rights disputes or collective bargaining, not as a party to mediation, weakens the party and may not be beneficial in labor-management autonomy.